SYY reports Monday with shorts in retreat and options skew turning bullish. Short interest has fallen to 2.07% of float as analysts cut targets.
Short interest stands at 9.92 million shares, or 2.07% of free float, as of April 23. That marks a 25% decline over the past month. Daily data shows shorts covering steadily since early April, when SI peaked above 13.6 million shares. Cost to borrow remains negligible at 0.51%, up modestly from 0.48% last month. Utilisation sits at just 0.95%, far below the 52-week high of 9.78% hit in early April. The low CTB and utilisation signal ample borrow availability and minimal shorting pressure.
Put/call ratio dropped to 0.29 on April 24, down from the 20-day mean of 0.33. That places the PCR 0.88 standard deviations below the recent average, indicating a call-heavy skew. The ratio sits near the 52-week low of 0.21, reflecting bullish positioning. Options traders appear to favor upside exposure heading into the Monday print.
Analyst consensus data is unavailable in the snapshot. Recent activity shows a defensive tilt. Piper Sandler's Brian Mullan cut his target to $77 from $83 on April 7, maintaining Neutral. UBS and Guggenheim both lowered targets to $90 from $95 in early April while keeping Buy ratings. Citigroup's Karen Holthouse made two cuts in a week—first to $72 from $88 on March 31, then a token raise to $73 on April 2, both at Neutral. Wells Fargo's Edward Kelly bucked the trend in February, raising to $100 from $92 with an Overweight rating. The mean target of $87.33 implies 14% upside from the current $76.56 close. Benzinga's bull case highlights Sysco's 18% share of the $377 billion U.S. foodservice market and margin expansion expectations. The bear case warns of EBITDA margin contraction in FY26 and ERP costs crimping profit growth.
Sysco's P/E ratio stands at 16.06, down 1.57 points over the past 30 days as the stock fell 7% in April. EV/EBITDA is 10.97, down modestly from 11.00 a month ago. Factor scores show strength in dividend quality (97th percentile), analyst recommendation differential (92nd percentile), and forward EPS growth (87th percentile). EPS momentum ranks in the 35th and 41st percentiles over 30 and 90 days, respectively.
Insiders sold $725,000 net over the past 90 days. Recent sales include 5,601 shares by HR Director Ronald Phillips on January 27 at $81. Vanguard holds 13.0% of shares outstanding, adding 814,270 shares in Q1. BlackRock owns 8.4%, adding 186,000. American Century boosted its stake by 2.96 million shares to 3.84 million as of March 31.
Sysco last reported on January 27, 2026. Prior earnings dates cluster around late January. The stock has fallen 7% over the past month into this print.
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